Ranma's Cat-astrophe
by Little Pluviophile
Summary: Ranma splashed himself with Jusenkyo reverse effect powder water. He thought he was going to change back into his male form, but he didn't. When he was splashed with cold water, he became a cat. Deal with it, Ranma. Author's note: Includes arcs of various characters
1. Chapter 1: How It All Began

Chapter 1: How It All Began

"This one guarantee change you into your self," convinced the Jusenkyo powder seller with his strong Chinese accent. "No lie." In his hand was a shiny red sachet. The rays of sun made the red surface shone.

"Heh? This thing, for real?" Ranma snatched the oh-so-alluring sachet. He examined the thing thoroughly, and even tried his best reading kanji words of the product description and warning. He really hated reading, especially kanji words with their annoying complicated strokes. "Warning: Not suitable for people with double personality disorder."

Just then the front door slid open. "I'm home!" exclaimed a familiar voice. "Hey, Ranma! I got you strawberry parfait on my way home wi- Oh! It seems like we have a visi-"

"AKANE! LET ME HAVE THE PARFAIT!" Ranma's eyes gleamed and his hand reached out to a pink paper box on the table with a leap.

"SHOW SOME RESPECT AND BEHAVE WILL YA?!" Akane landed her fist on Ranma's head. She took the paper box away and stored it in the freezer. "Anyway, who are you, Mister?"

"I humble seller from Jusenkyo and this young man seem interested to buy that thing, Miss," explained the Chinese man briefly, pointing to the sachet Ranma held.

Ranma suddenly sat up and immediately regained consciousness. "Ah, I forgot! Akane! What do you think of this?" He passed the sachet to Akane.

"He? What is this?" asked Akane, taking and observing the red thing curiously. "Ju-sen-kyo re-verse ef-fect pow-der," she spelled carefully. "Jusenkyo reverse effect powder?" repeated her with a questioning tone. She didn't seem to quite get the product description. It didn't look appealing nor special to her.

"It changes you, into the you, inside yourself," replied Ranma short, with a touch of excitement on each of the "you" word.

"Err…" Akane switched her eyes to Ranma, then to the sachet, the Ranma again. "So, you are saying that this would change you back to your complete male form?"

Ranma nodded enthusiastically.

Akane half slammed the sachet on the table. "I doubt that very much," stated her straightforwardly and without hesitation. A moment of silence went pass them along with the summer breeze.

The Jusenkyo traveler had imaginary sweat drops on his head. Akane shot a sharp glare at Ranma. Ranma looked as if he had just been stabbed on his heart.

"Eh…? Why n-"

"Because you have been acting like a girl lately. You eat like a girl, dress like a girl, flirt like a girl, and stay in your girl form more frequently and intentionally," blurted Akane out. Ranma was already as flat as the tatami mat when Akane finished her sentence.

Ranma got up, looking discouraged. His head pointed downward and he started walking out of the room. "It's not my fault to have this curse on me. I just wanted to try something new," muttered Ranma, sounding depressed. He dragged his feet pass Akane.

"Ranma, I-"

"I guess I would never be able to make the man out of me." Ranma slid the door open. He sighed. "I just… I want to…" He paused. "Fulfill my childhood promise that I made with my mother."

"Ranma, wait!" Akane shouted to Ranma, stopping him from walking any further. She lost her mother and she would do anything to make her proud, or happy. " _I'm sure Ranma would want it too. I could at least help him out, right?_ " thought Akane. " _For the sake of Ranma, Genma, Mrs. Saotome, and… mother!_ "

"Ranma," called Akane. "Let's give it a shot!"

* * *

Author's note: Greetings, fellow readers! Thanks for reading and know that this is my first work and I really need reviews to improve. I'm still a newbie and let me know if there are mistakes in my grammar (English isn't my language, still, it's not an excuse) and I'm open to any personal thought or suggestion or even critics ^_^ And yes! I will update the chapters weekly (I'll try my best be on time), so look forward to them!


	2. Chapter 2: Simple Intermezzo of Two

Chapter 2: Simple Intermezzo of Two

"I can't believe this thing costs me-"

"I can't believe you actually made those entire sentences up!" scolded Akane. She let herself fell on her bed with her face on the pillow. "Geez, stupid Ranma," said her with a muffled voice.

Ranma rested his chin on the edge of Akane's bed. "Akane, don't be mad at me," pleaded Ranma, with an uncomfortable grin on his face. He was only acting as a drama king, that's all. Then, he felt bad for having Akane getting the wrong idea. "It isn't like what you think it is."

Akane gave no reaction, even when Ranma started poking her cheek.

"Akane, I'm sorry," Ranma apologized with an unclear voice.

Akane peeped a bit. "What? I couldn't hear what you said."

"I said, 'Akane, I'm sorry'," Ranma repeated his sentence, this time more boldly.

"What?" asked Akane again.

"Akane, I'm sorry!" said Ranma right in Akane's ear.

Akane smiled and lifted her face. "Sorry, do another repeat?"

Ranma closed his eyes, letting himself calm down. He let the air circulate his lungs a few times before taking a very deep breath. "AKANEEE, I'M SORRY!" He shouted with all the air he had in his respiratory system. After, he panted for a few seconds and took another deep breath. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" he repeated the same two words again and again.

Akane laughed and tried getting up. She laughed and laughed. "My… stomach …hurts…" She tried talking in the middle of her laughter.

Ranma was panting and breathing heavily. He looked at Akane. He smiled. "That's… not… so cute… Akane," said him as he tried to normalize his breathing rate. " _That's not true,_ " said a little voice inside him. " _Yeah, I know,_ " thought Ranma.

Akane was still laughing. Ranma was still panting.

"I guess she is kind of cute," Ranma whispered to himself.

"Ranma, your face is all red!" Akane told Ranma after cooling down. "You really look as if you're blushing!" Akane sat on the floor and stretched her legs.

"Hehe, I guess all those laughing made your face red as well," replied Ranma, sitting beside Akane. His back leaned on the bed.

"Anyway, I wasn't mad at you back then," confessed Akane. "I was just trying to act like what you did. I think I hit the spot." She turned her face to Ranma and smiled widely.

"What?!" Ranma couldn't believe what he just heard. His jaws dropped. " _Great, I must look so stupid, or perhaps idiotic._ "

"Ehehe, peace!" Akane giggled. She did the V sign hand gesture while still smiling her smile of victory.

"That's so not cute," muttered Ranma, half whispering. " _Again, that's not true._ " A tiny voice emerged inside him for the second time. "I know that! You needn't tell me!"

"Eh? Ranma? What's wrong?" asked Akane, not understanding the sudden change of situation. "Are you… mad at me?"

"Huh? What do you mean?" asked Ranma back. He tried recalling the last ten seconds. "Wait, did I say it out loud?"

Akane nodded. "You mentioned something about you knowing and not needing me to tell you about something," she told Ranma, sounding uneasy. "Did I-"

"No, no, no!" exclaimed Ranma at once. His face reddened and felt a bit warmer than usual. "You did nothing wrong, Akane, don't worry, everything's under control." He blurted all the words out at once. He placed his hands on his hips and let out an awkward laugh. "Ha-ha… Anyway, what now?"

"You sure are acting weird…" commented Akane before moving onto the next topic. "What now? Well, let's do something about that," said her, pointing her finger at the Jusenkyo powder sachet on her desk.

Ranma took the sachet and held it up. "Oh, I forgot the whole thing. Akane, let's try i-"

"Not so fast, 'cause first, you need to fix yourself," said Akane, changing the direction of her finger to point Ranma. "You'll need to undergo a special training, Ranma." A glimpse of light moved across her eyes.

Ranma sat upright and cleared his throat. "A spe-cial train-ing?" asked him stutteringly. His instinct told him that bad things are coming his way. He trusted Akane, but this case seemed to be exceptional. "A-Are you sure it's sa-safe?"

"Of course!" Akane cried out confidently. She swung her body closer to Ranma. "It's meant to train you to be a man, that's all," explained Akane. "Don't worry, I will play no pranks on you this time, it's a promise."

"Alright then! Sounds great!" Ranma gave the sachet to Akane and stood up. He tried his best to get rid of his inner voice which told him to back out, get out, and never return again. "So, when will it start?"

Akane pull her desk drawer and put in the small flat thing. "The first sunrise," said her, gazing at the scorching summer sun. "Enjoy your day while you can, Ranma."

* * *

Author's note: Greetings, fellow readers! I know, this is faster than when I expected it (or more like "myself") to finish. I have a reason for this; next week I'll be in a battlefield; it's between me and school… Yea, not as cool as World War I nor World War II, but the struggle is real. So, for you guys who are having the same fight, let our pain and sufferi-, ahem, I mean, let our effort be in unity!


	3. Chapter 3: Morning Greeting

Chapter 3: Morning Greeting

The sun began rising, its rays travelled into the Tendo residence. Birds chirped their daily morning melody whilst flying across the dawn sky. But even nature knew it wouldn't last longer than an hour and half. However, that morning, the ruckus seemed to start an hour earlier.

Noises could be heard filling the whole Tendo residence. Starting from the kitchen, dining room, garden, training hall, to the attic. Clatters, footsteps, grunts, and other unidentified noises echoed throughout the place.

"Who's making all those noise?" Soun, head of the household, climbed down the stairs. He yawned and looked around the place with sleepy eyes.

" _I need my beauty sleep._ " Genma Saotome in his panda form showed up with his wooden sign. The panda yawned widely and followed Soun.

"Ah! Dad, Uncle Saotome, good morning!" greeted Akane, with two dishes on her hands. She then hummed a short melody.

Soun and Genma suddenly turned pale.

" _Could it be…_ "

"Could it be…"

"Akane! Are you preparing breakfast today?!" Soun asked with his watery eyes.

"Yep," answered Akane. "Don't worry; there'll be plenty to eat for everyone!" And with that, she returned to the kitchen. "I'll be back with more!" shouted her from a distance.

Genma and Soun looked at each other and nodded. They seemed to understand each other's feeling at first glance.

"Saotome…"

" _Soun…_ "

After that short exchange of words, they burst out in tears, hugging and lending each other a shoulder to cry on.

"What have we done to deserve this fate?!"

Nabiki went down the stairs. "Daddy, Uncle Saotome, it's still early in the morning," said her, rubbing her eyes. "Keep it down please."

"My, isn't it lively?" Kasumi made her way down the stairs short after Nabiki did. "Ah, Uncle Saotome, sleeping in your panda form again? It must be nice and warm with that fur, am I right?"

"Come to think of it, what are you both grieving for?" asked Nabiki after observing the unusual behavior of the two men.

Soun immediately grabbed Nabiki's shoulders. He looked into her eyes with his tear-filled eyes. "My daughter, Nabiki."

"Eh, what?"

" _It's… the breakfast…_ "

Nabiki and Kasumi tilted their heads. "The breakfast?" questioned them at the same time.

Just then, Akane came out from the kitchen with her previously hummed short melody, and with an unidentified blackish dish. "Kasumi, Nabiki, morning!" She seemed happy.

Kasumi placed her hands on her mouth. Nabiki gasped.

"The breakfast…"

"Oh, breakfast? This?" Akane placed the plate on the table. "Don't you worry, Kasumi, I'm the one handling it today. By the way, gotta go! I have to wake Ranma up!"

Akane went to the upper floor, leaving the dining room in silence. No one made any attempt to begin a conversation; everyone stayed frozen.

A few seconds later, Nabiki took a deep breath. It seemed as if her heart just started beating again. "Gosh! I need my phone now, enjoy your breakfast!" She then quickly made her way upstairs.

Kasumi experienced the same thing. "My! Look at the time!" said her. She also seemed as if she had just woken up from another dimension of world. She stood up and took a book or two. "I need to go to Dr. Tofu and ask him about some traditional medical cure. Father, tell Akane I'm skipping breakfast, okay?"The front door slid open and not even a soul heard it being closed.

Nabiki appeared and hurried pass the dining room. "Daddy, I'm going out with my friend now," told her, texting on her phone. "I'll be skipping breakfast, bye!" And she left the place, in silence.

"Saotome…" Soun started a conversation. He tried his best to smile, but then ended up crying with his panda pal like before.

* * *

Location: Ranma's Room

Akane opened the curtains and window. She knew that mere morning sun rays could wake people up; well, at least in movies she watched the technique works. But it was clear to her such classic method wouldn't work on Ranma, like ever.

Akane pulled the blanket Ranma snuggled in. "Ranma! Rise and shine!" She tried sounding strict, but eventually failed. She put her hands on her waist. " _Alright, I need a plan to wake this sleeping lad,_ " thought her with eyes fixed on the-still-unconscious Ranma. " _Aside from that, I need him to get a morning shower._ "

For a while, Akane walked in circles around the room. It took her a while to finally have something in her mind. A smile brightened her face as she walked out of Ranma's room, leaving the door half open.

"Breakfast is finally ready! It smells nice!"

Ranma opened his eyes hearing the word "breakfast". He had never been late to any breakfast and he's not planning to end up eating leftovers. He ran out of his room, tripping over a book in the process but didn't care.

"Morning, Ranma," greeted Akane right in front of his doorstep. She smiled widely, knowing that her first plan worked well.

"Huh? Akane? What are you doing?"

"Come on, breakfast is ready!"

Akane ran down the stairs, and strangely, heading to the front door. Ranma didn't bother rushing. He hadn't reached the dining room when a shout alarmed him.

"Ah! Mrs. Saotome, it's a very nice of you to come and stop by!" It was Akane's voice.

At once Ranma was already seen sitting in the garden fish pond, with his, or more like "her" "pet panda" with her.

"Ohohoho, Ranko-chan is here, Auntie!"

Akane came to see what happened. She laughed at the sight of the-now-girl Ranma and her Uncle Panda. "Uncle Saotome! You were already panda, alright! Sorry, it was only meant for Ranma, but it seems like you got in this as well."

The panda lifted a wooden sign. " _This is ridiculous._ " He got out of the pond, and with his fur dripping with water, he sat with Soun, refilling his cup with hot green tea.

"Akane! What was that for?!"

Akane walked towards Ranma, kneeling by the pond. She smiled innocently, as if nothing ever happened. "Here, Ranma, make sure you have a good grip," said Akane, lending a hand. Ranma hesitated at first, but eventually accepted to be pulled out. Akane took out a towel and dry Ranma's red hair. It wasn't difficult for Ranma seemed to be shrinking to a lower level of height.

"Ranma, I've prepared the bathroom," told Akane, giving Ranma's hair a last rub. "After, you're ready to attend breakfast. You know you can't afford to spend more time in this form if you really want to be a real man! As what I said before, the training starts today." She gave Ranma a light push on his back and smiled. "Sorry, I set up this plan, even though I promised to not involve any tricks." It was a tone of regret. Nothing more. It seemed as if she was indirectly saying, " _Please, I don't want to lose your trust…_ "

Ranma blushed and nodded a little. She understood that Akane meant no harm on her. "It's… nothing," she mumbled. She let her hand slip among her messy maroon hair and down to her neck. "It's not like I'm hurt or anything…" She placed the towel on her shoulders and walked to the bathroom.

That morning, Ranma took longer than usual soaking in the warm-watered-tub.

* * *

Author's note: Greetings, fellow readers! Hey there! First of all, please accept my apology for this very, very late post. My end semester exam is in the count of two weeks and my annoying collection of schoolwork is piling on my desk, literally piling up! I don't know if this could make it up, but I made the chapter longer. Anyway, thank you for everyone who has been loyally waiting for the update, and for all new fellow readers, please make yourselves feel at home ^_^ (It means reviews, suggestions, critics, and personal ideas are very welcomed here!)


	4. Chapter 4: Train Like A Man!

Chapter 4: Train like a man!

"Akane! You should've tasted your own cooking before serving it to somebody!"

"Hey, it wasn't my fault! And you could've shown at least a bit of your respect to me!"

Ranma and Akane pouted. The turned their heads away from each other with a "humph!" and a sudden stomp.

Soun turned his head to Ranma, and then Akane, and Ranma again. "Ranma, Akane, you don't really have to be like this, don't you?"

The panda beside Soun nodded. " _Ranma, Akane, without each other you are just pork bun without pork._ " He moved towards them and took their hands. A few seconds later, a red ribbon was seen tied on their wrists and hands clasped together. " _My job here is done._ "

At once, Ranma punched the panda, making a hole on the roof in the process. "THIS IS STUPID AS HELL!" Ranma shouted up to the blue summer sky through the opening on the roof. There was no answer of course, only an abnormally bright shining star. A minute later, there was a huge splash in the garden fish pond. "I'm leaving," said Ranma with a sudden hand gesture.

Akane screamed to the pitch of her voice. She fell on top of Ranma, with an unpleasant bump.

"WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!" Ranma and Akane shouted in unison. They struggled to get up, but failed several times and ended up like their first fall.

"WHAT'S WRONG WITH THIS RED THING?!"

"JUST LET IT GO OF ME!"

Both Ranma and Akane tried to free their hands at the same time, and all the tugging and pulling at the piece of ribbon made the knot tighten even more. There was no way to undo the knot anymore, no going back. After realizing that it was pointless doing all those jerking, they finally gave up. Their wrists were already red at the moment.

"Ranma, you get up first," said Akane, sitting on the floor. "Then let's get to the kitchen to find a knife. We can't possibly do anything right at this rate."

Ranma got up carefully. He sure didn't want to experience a fall on Akane and a fine smack on him. "Let's get this thing done as soon as possible, Akane," said him, lifting his tied wrist to the air. Akane made it up and nodded.

* * *

Location: Kitchen

"AKANE! WHAT THE HECK HAVE YOU BEEN DOING IN HERE?!"

Ranma stared at the kitchen with his eyes wide. He could see forks and spoons sticking on the celling, shatters of broken dining wares everywhere, sticky yellow dough covering the floor, the stove looked as if it had just survived a volcano eruption, a crooked pan, and a cutting board that had turned into fragments of lumber. It was a more than a complete disaster.

Ranma was speechless of what the blue haired girl was capable of doing. He turned to Akane, as if demanding an explanation.

"W-Well, you see…" Akane fiddled her fingers, trying to find proper words that she could use. She was too, utterly lost of words. "Don't worry, I'll clean the mess up, and Kasumi would certainly help me out!" She had this hint of doubt in her tone for she was sure she would need a replacement for the kitchen.

"Okay… Never mind that." Ranma scanned the room, searching for a knife or something of that kind. " _There it- well… There they are…_ " The knives were easy to spot. Like come on, who wouldn't spot a bunch of knives planted on a wall. The pigtailed boy had an urge of telling, or should he say "mocking" the blue haired girl about her unpredictable inner strength but he knew that first of all he must do something about the physical bond between them.

"How are those things supposed to stick on the wall?"

"Well, that's the exact same question I could have asked you. You should have realized that you're not in the place to ask that."

"Are you blaming me then?"

"What?! Are you kidding?! I mean- DO KNIVES FLY OUT OF THE CUPBOARD ACROSS THE KITCHEN TO STAB THE WALL?!"

"W-Well… Of course they don't! Still, um… Ugh, just ignore this nonsense and quickly put an end to this stupid red thing, Ranma!"

Ranma huffed. "Fine," he said reluctantly. Within a second he pulled one of the knives out of the wall swiftly. It wasn't difficult since he was a trained martial artist. " _How uncute._ "

"I think I could make a use of this thing in your training, so make sure you'll only cut the knot."

"What kind of plans are you actually planning on?"

"You'll see."

Thirty seconds. It was the time Ranma needed to free his wrist from Akane's, and vice versa. He managed to leave minimum damage on the ribbon and thought he did a pretty good job. He assumed that only because Akane didn't complain.

"Ah! At last! Now follow me. We can't afford to lose more time."

* * *

Location: Training Hall

"WHAT IN THE WORLD IS THAT MONSTER DOING HERE?! GET IT OUT, AKANE, GET IT OUT!"

"Calm down, Ranma… It's just… a kitten… I found her yesterday and she appears to be a stray. So, I decided to keep her. Besides, Shiro appears to be perfectly friendly and I think she might suit as your companion, and training pal."

"YOU TOOK THAT THING IN AND NAMED IT?! YOU'RE COMPLETELY INSANE!"

"Ranma! What's wrong with you?! Come on, train like a man!"

At once, Ranma splashed himself with a bucket of water that came out of nowhere. "OHOHOHO, I'M A GI-"

"YOU CAN'T AFFORD TO SPEND MORE TIME IN THIS FORM, RANMA!" Akane splashed him with hot water she brought along with her. Apparently, she had calculated the possibility of encountering this sort of thing. The hot water landed perfectly on Ranma, changing her back to him.

Ranma crawled to the furthest corner of the room, terrified and desperate mode on. His mind projected an exaggerated and modified memory of a bunch of laser-eyed and gigantic starving cats chasing, scratching, biting, and slowly bringing painful death to him, with echoes of cats' collar bells ringing as the "music" background. People might see this as an extreme case of irrational and unnecessary fear, but to Ranma, this was the result of his past trauma, thanks to Genma Saotome and his lack of rationality.

Akane sat on the plank floor and gently stroked the neck of the white-furred kitten, which seemed to be enjoying it. The little cat later bumped her head onto Akane's lap to show affection. "See, Ranma? Shiro is an adorable thing and there's no reason you should be afraid of her," said Akane, smiling to both Ranma and the kitten. She picked the kitten up and brought her closer to Ranma.

"AKANE, BE SERIOUS! YOU PROMISED YOU'D INVOLVE NO PRANKS!"

"But this isn't one."

"THAT'S EVEN WORSE!"

"Ranma! Take a good look at Shiro!" Akane lifted Shiro towards Ranma's face.

Ranma covered his face with his palms, cowering. "NOPE! I'M NOT TAKING EVEN THE SLIGHTEST GLANCE! STOP THIS, AKANE!" He let out some sort of restrained sob.

Akane began to feel impatient. She felt sorry for Ranma, but she really wanted him to overcome his greatest phobia and truly see that cats had a loving and peaceful nature. "Ranma! You and cats are quite the same, so why should you be afraid of them?!"

"I AM TOTALLY DIFFERENT FROM CATS, AKANE! GET THAT THING AWAY!"

"Not really. Under certain circumstances you kind of turn into a cat, mentally. Don't you remember?"

"WELL, I DON'T WANT THAT!"

"Okay, I understand." Akane walked away with Shiro in her palms. "Let's start from the very basic."

The sobbing gradually stopped. Ranma carefully turned his head away from the corner and towards Akane. "What now…?" asked him. He sounded like a five-year-old who had been crying for an hour. He sounded really terrible.

"First." Akane walked towards Ranma, slow but sure, triggering his panic.

"GET AWAY FROM ME!"

Akane knelt down right in front of Ranma. She showed her open palms to him. "Ranma, there's no need of being so dramatic."

Ranma relaxed a little as he let out a fake relieved laugh. He couldn't fully trust anyone there if he knew that there was a presence of cat somewhere in the room. He scanned the whole room to find not a single sign of the so-called-Shiro.

"Meow!"

A high-pitched and small mew was heard. Although it was very weak, Ranma knew it was somewhere very near to him. He froze and his legs seemed to be cramped. "Akane… Help…" hissed him. He turned his head to the right and look down.

There she is. A little white figure.

"Meow!" Shiro put her paws on Ranma's hand with her head tilted to the left. Anyone who saw this would probably gave an "aww, that's cute" reaction. But this certainly wouldn't apply to Ranma.

* * *

Location: Garden Terrace

"Checkmate, panda-pal!" Soun laughed and pointed his finger at the panda sitting across him. "You ain't fooling me this time!"

" _Let's do a rematch. I'm sure it was a fluke._ "

"What fluke?! I'm n- Eh? Was that Ranma screaming?" Soun looked around only to find a fish doing a quick leap above the pond. Next, the only sound his ears caught was a tingling of the garden bell. "Ey, Saotome-kun, don't you think you should check on your son? I thought I heard him screa-"

" _Checkmate!_ " Genma in his panda form calmly sip his tea. " _I hear nothing._ "

"What?! How come?!" Soun freaked out and examines the shogi board and all the pieces. "That was my piece, how come are you now having it!"

" _I'm the master of the shogi game, how dare you question me! Now as you promised, bow down!_ "

"Yes! You're the greatest shogi master I've ever encountered!" And by that, Soun knelt and bowed down to the panda who was feeling very high at that moment. So much of a manly game.

* * *

Location: Training Hall

"Well, I didn't see that coming…" said Akane under her breath. Her left hand stroked Shiro who was crying. The kitten appeared to have encountered a shocking experience. "Poor Shiro… Now calm down."

Akane looked to her right. Her right hand was stroking Ranma's black hair. He seemed to have completely calmed down. "You sure are hopeless, aren't you?" There was no reply, only some sort of purring from the sleeping Ranma.

"Shiro, there's nothing to be afraid of right now," said Akane to Shiro on her other side. She pushed the kitten towards Ranma. The little thing seemed to have gotten over whatever happened a few moments ago.

Shiro didn't hiss or hide from Ranma, instead, she placed her paw on Ranma's head and let her nose touch with his. Ranma didn't seem to mind that, well, as long as he stayed mentally cat, he wouldn't.

Akane smiled and smiled, an adoring smile. "Hey, aren't the two of you cute? If only you could get along like this…" She stared at them and shook her head, her smile fading away.

" _Pull yourself together, Ranma._ "

* * *

Author's note: Greetings, fellow readers! Wuaaaa I'm really sorry for this very, very late chapter publish. It's been awfully long since the last time I wrote and I really miss it. And finals week is just about to start! But fear not, for I will certainly and absolutely snatch some time whilst studying to write. Hey! I don't wanna stare at my 1.8 inch textbook (I actually record that lol) all day long! Okay, apart from that, hope you enjoyed the chapter and good luck for you guys who are having rough time at school ^_^

* * *

Another note: Hey there! I'm gonna start the characters' arc really soon, so stay notified!

 _Hint: I'll start with Azusa Shiratori!_


	5. Chapter 5: The Last Training

Chapter 5: The Last Training

It had been quite some weeks since Ranma started his training under Akane and Shiro as his training partner, and the Tendos must admit that every single minute of it sucked, which was totally understandable. Screams and yells of horror echoed throughout the neighborhood and they could be either extremely annoying at the day, or horrifying at the nighttime. At one point, the neighbors assembled priests and monks for an exorcism ritual kind of thing. They brought salt, bottles of sake, white papers, and other kind of charms to calm down the rumored "demon". Akane had a hard time explaining things, especially because of her dad who mysteriously disappeared at that moment.

Ranma did his best to mute his screams by wrapping his chin-to-mouth area with a piece of cloth, which actually worked pretty well. However, his "buried" screams mutated into accumulating fear of cats and result in him, letting those fears out in his sleep. Eventually, it became worse and he apparently became a night "cat". For a few nights, he wandered through the neighborhood, releasing mourning and grieving sounds that woke up the neighbors. Once again, they planned an exorcism, and Akane had to straightened things up again, all by herself.

But even the dark and gloomy cloud has silver lining. The training actually did Ranma some good. He didn't freak out as much as he used to when he happened to "meet" a cat. He didn't froze like a corpse when he met one, not anymore, but instead, he walked away normally (or at least that's what he thought) like he had never encountered anything at the first place. Aside from that, he kind of became quite fond of his training partner, Shiro the white kitten. He didn't really mind if it accidentally went near him or the other way around.

Besides that, it appeared that Kasumi could calm Ranma down as well when he's in his mental state of cat, although he preferred Akane instinctively. It had been a daily routine of Kasumi going for a very early morning walk and call out for Ranma after wondering around all night. Then, Ranma would come to Kasumi and walk home together. He would climb onto the kitchen table and watch Kasumi chopping vegetables, slicing meat, and preparing breakfast. After some slices of meat he would take a nice nap before waking up into himself later.

That's if Akane didn't splash cold water over him and force him to school. Well, even if she did, Ranma would do get his sleep at his classroom, or along the corridor whilst holding two pails of water. The school headmaster wasn't very happy about this. Reason One: Lack of discipline. Reason Two: Ranma preferred to sleep and not give a fuck about chasing the headmaster through the school after receiving the "gift from Hawaii".

Another not-so-important discovery was that cats (mentally cat people) weren't very fond towards pandas, or at least that's how things turned out. Reasons? One: Wood signs made perfect scratching posts. Two: Both couldn't communicate with understandable language. Three: Both could mentally transform into a raging bear and aggressive panther. Four: Both lived under one same roof. Five: Genetics and instincts.

The best part was that cat-Ranma (and Shiro!) made such great companion(s), which didn't apply to the panda of course. Kasumi loved to have a presence or two accompanying her in doing house chores and personal activities, especially knitting. Kasumi provided each Ranma and Shiro a ball of yarn to play with because she wouldn't like to have to tell them off for tangling her knitting wool. Meanwhile, Akane would bring those cats to her room at night and confess her problems (mostly related to school, how Tatewaki Kuno was pissing her off, and how she felt about a certain thing) to them. She knew they wouldn't understand anything she said but she felt good after doing so, perhaps because she knew she wasn't alone.

Now here comes the tricky side of the story. Nabiki, the "businesswoman", saw great opportunity in Ranma. She would secretly douse Ranma with cold water, which would turn him into a girl followed by "WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!" phrase as the reaction, then play a recording of irritated-sounding-cats'-meows, and thus reversing Ranma's mental state. She would next put on an act and brought Kasumi (not Akane since she would be mad if she saw Ranma in his girl state) to the mentally unstable Ranma to put him in a peaceful mode.

Things became easier for Nabiki starting from that point, where she only needed to provide some cats' favorites (ex: catnip, yarn ball, feather, etc) to attract Ranma's attention and have him do some random poses. Besides, Nabiki would dress Ranma up in various dresses and cosplay costumes. Nabiki would also do the "if it fits, I sits*" thing on Ranma. The good thing was that she didn't really have to force Ranma to do it since it was cats' natural instinct and Ranma didn't really mind as long as she got the catnip. It was simply cute to see the red-haired girl popping out her head from a card box or licking her own hand, which she mistook as paw.

Of course Nabiki's intention in going through all those troubles was merely to take pictures of the cat-natured-pigtailed-girl. The perfect combination of cuteness and feline traits could made one pic to manage reaching the price of up to 10,000 Yen. The collector: Tatewaki Kuno.

Well, yea… So things kind of turned out uncontrollable and unpredictable. But…meh, what do you expect from the Tendos and Saotomes?

* * *

Akane's bedroom door slammed open with Akane barging in. "No! Don't touch that thing yet, Ranma!" She snatched the red sachet containing Jusenkyo powder then quickly locking it in her drawer.

"But Aka-"

"No! No is no, no matter what!" Akane flipped over pages of a blue memo book she was holding. Meanwhile, Ranma lied on the floor, looking depressed and feeling bored. "Okay… Ah! Let's check on your overall progress." Akane sat on her bed, gesturing at the boy below her to pay his attention on her. He got the message and sat up right.

"So this is your 11th week, and so far you've been through 103 attempts," began Akane. She then flipped another page. "Your progress… um, not bad, I guess. Eye contact, check! Self control… Err, let's just skip over that one." She paused for a while, flipping over a few pages as her eyes moved left-right-left-right. "Hey, Ranma… I guess you've achieved quite a lot, so, congratulate yourself."

"SO DOES THAT MEAN I GET TO-"

"Nope, not yet! Don't get too excited, there's still one mission left," Akane cut in at once.

Ranma decided to save his whoop-whoop for later use. He moved closer to Akane, wanting to know his last mission-to-do. The only thing he had in mind was putting an end to everything once and for all. "Alright! I'm fired up right now! What is that thing I should do, anyway?"

There was no answer from Akane. She just stood up and walked to her desk. "Well, Ranma, do you remember the red ribbon that used to be tied on our wrist?" She unlocked the drawer with a sliver key and took out a nicely folded red ribbon she mentioned before. "Remember?"

Ranma responded with a nod. "Now that you mention it… You told me I will need that thing in my training, but I forgot all about it up to this moment." He pulled the end of the ribbon and twirled it with his finger. "What's your plan?"

"Meow!"

"Ah, Shiro! Perfect timing!"

Ranma jumped from his seat and averted his eyes to the kitten that just got in through the gap of the unclosed door. "You scared me… Just don't get too close. I still don't trust you, alright."

"Ranma, I've been observing things for the last nine days and I guess you have stopped reverting to your mental state of cat," informed Akane. "It's a good thing and I've come to a conclusion that you are ready for the last test." She took the red ribbon from Ranma and tied it around his left ankle. It wasn't tight but the knot couldn't be undone.

"A-Akane… A-Are y-you going t-to…"

"Don't worry, Shiro is very fond of you, so she wouldn't mind being attached to you for a whole day." Akane smiled at Ranma and pulled him closer to Shiro.

Ranma struggled and tried gripping the floor, but of course it didn't work. "BUT AKANE, I DO MIND THAT!" yelled him.

Akane ignored whatever Ranma just said and turned to Shiro. "Nee, Shiro, you wouldn't mind spending your day with Ranma, would you?" asked Akane, pointing at Ranma.

"YOU DON'T HAVE TO ASK THE CAT! JUST ABORT THE MISSION! ABORTTT!"

Shiro tilted her head. She didn't understand a thing about what was going on. She turned her head to Ranma and let a few seconds pass before turning back to face Akane.

"So? What do you think?"

Shiro lifted her head up. "Mrreow!" she answered with a meowing purr.

"Aww! That's a very nice of you! See, Ranma? Shiro said "yes"! Okay, it's all settled!"

"DON'T BE STUPID! YOU DON'T TALK CATS!"

Akane pulled another end of the ribbon. "Now, Shiro, I'll be tying this to your right leg, alright? It won't hurt, so just relax," convinced her. "Okay, all done!"

"AKANE, STOP THIS STUP-"

"STOP YOUR WHINING, RANMA!" shouted Akane. Ranma froze with his mouth half open. She took a deep breath and leaned closer to him. "Listen, Ranma. There's no turning back right now. Just try your best to tolerate this situation and don't you ever try to cut this ribbon or I'll have to let you face your worst nightmare. Make sure you slow down your pace and not drag Shiro while moving around. Understood?"

Ranma gulped. He could feel a drop of cold sweat running all the way down to his spine, making him shudder. "I-I get i-it."

"Great!" The dark and threatening atmosphere turned bright all of a sudden. She looked at the ticking clock hanging behind her. "It's lunchtime! Bye, Ranma, see ya later~" And the door slammed close.

"AKANE, YO- EEEKK! STAY WHERE YOU ARE!" Ranma backed as much as four steps. "Alright, there's no point in doing this, I'm literally tied to you anyway." He calmed down and leaned on the wall. "FREEZE RIGHT THERE! I'M TRYING TO BE NICE HERE!"

"Meow!"

"EEEEKKKKK!"

Guess things couldn't turn any better, right?

* * *

*try googling "if it fits, I sits" and you would understand, and even find things just hilarious

* * *

Author's note: Greetings, fellow readers! As what I have promised, here is the chapter! The chapter title sucks, I know, that's because I could think of nothing better. I wanna thank everyone who has been loyally following and reading my story, 'cause you guys really give me hope. I suck at school, mostly at math, physics, and biology too, and those things discourage me. But thanks to you guys, I feel a lot better, and I promise even though I fail school, I will try my best to not fail you! Know that you are the reason I keep on writing! Thanks for all the support ^_^ you guys are amazing!


	6. Chapter 6: The Lunchtime

Chapter 6: The Lunchtime

"I'm trying to eat here and you are not having MY fish!" Ranma pointed his chopsticks at the white kitten as a sign of threat. He knew it wasn't a proper table manner but he just couldn't help "defending" himself. He thought Shiro looked as if she was ready to pounce at him anytime. His hands were shaking and he dropped one of the bamboo chopsticks. "AKANE! THIS IS TOO MUCH FOR ME TO HANDLE!"

"It's none of my concern. A real man deals with his problems."

"Here, Ranma, a replacement for your chopstick."

"Thanks, Kasumi."

Ranma glanced at the cat and gulped. "Y-You have your own b-bowl, why don't you just mind your food…?"

"AHAHAHA I CAN'T BELIE-"

Ranma splashed water from a bucket that appeared out of nowhere on Genma. "SHUT IT, POPS! I'M DON'T NEED TO HEAR THAT FROM YOU!"

" _Curse you._ "

Nabiki put her chopsticks horizontally on her empty bowl. "Keep it down, please. Anyway, thanks for the food, Kasumi. I'm off to Kuno's house."

"Eh? What's the occasion, Nabiki?" asked Akane curiously.

"Oh, just some money-business matter. Anyway, I'll get you parfait on my way home, Ranma." Nabiki took her bag and slid the door close. "Bye, I'm off!"

"What's wrong with Nabiki? She's been pretty nice to you for the last two months. Anything between you two?" Akane asked, this time with more curiosity.

"What do you mean? Now that you mention it… Well, she bought me parfait last week, and the week before as well," said Ranma, munching his rice. "I wonder why…" He felt strange all of the sudden. He couldn't explain where he got the sudden shivers from.

Shiro pushed her small empty bowl with her head. "Meow!"

Ranma got a little startled and turned to the cat on his left. "NO! YOU'RE NOT GETTING ANYTHING FROM ME! ANYWAY WHO TAUGHT THAT TO THIS CAT?"

"I did!" told Akane proudly. "She's a well-trained cat I have to say. By the way, Ranma, you don't have to shout like every time you speak, do you?"

"That's sooo uncute," muttered Ranma as he continued his lunch.

"Genma, another shogi game, shall we?" asked Soun, putting his bowl aside.

" _Fine. The loser gets to bow at the winner._ "

"Tch. I'll win the game this time," said Soun with a very high self-confidence. He left to the garden terrace with his panda pal.

Akane stood up and climbed the stairs. "I'm done. Thanks for the food, Kasumi. Gotta do my homework now, bye, Ranma," said her before vanishing out of sight.

"Take your time, Ranma, don't rush while you eat," told Kasumi with her soothing voice as she cleared the dishes from the table. "Just leave your bowl on the table after you've finished eating, okay? I'll come back for it," said her before disappearing into the kitchen.

"YOU- I mean, you are still not having my fish," said Ranma in his normal speaking volume, remembering what Akane told him before. He looked at Shiro whose eyes were looking longingly at the fish between his chopsticks, and then to Ranma. "Nope, I'm not gonna get fooled with your eyes, no matter how you look at me, got it? So just give up on it, it's not yours anyway."

* * *

Ranma popped his head into the kitchen. He could see Kasumi drying the dishes. "Oi, Kasumi, I'm done eating. I left my bowl on the table just like what you told me," said him. "Thanks for the food anyway."

"Okay, don't worry, I'll get it soon," said Kasumi in response. Ranma nodded before leaving the kitchen and going upstairs.

When Kasumi got out of the kitchen, she could feel the breeze blowing among her brown hair. "It's going to be a good day," said her with a smile. She kneeled beside the table and was about to take away the dirty dishes away, but she just stared at what she saw and let the time flew pass her for a little while. "It's really true," said her, smiling at the sight of two bowls, with fishbone in the smaller one.

* * *

Author's note: Greetings, fellow readers! This is a very short chapter and I hope you like it. I did this on purpose because I'm going to post new chapters daily or in the range of about two days (yeayy!). The finals weeks are finally over and I'm terribly overjoyed! School starts in three weeks and I'll be writing like ten chapters (I'll do my best to meet or even go beyond my target), so, stay tuned! Anyway, I kind of wanna hear what's in your mind, so tell me what characters in Ranma (anime, I'm not familiar with the manga) that you want me to make an arc for ^_^


	7. Chapter 7: Autumn Wind

Chapter 7: Autumn Wind

An hour had passed since lunchtime and nothing much had happened. Apparently, Shiro felt sleepy while chasing Ranma around (she thought it was a game of tag) and decided to take a nap. She was off guard so Ranma didn't have to worry about her that much. The annoying part was that she fell asleep under a sakura tree in the garden.

"Stupid cat," said Ranma under his breath. "Of all places, why outdoor?!" He couldn't believe he had to wait until the cat woke up. It was pretty cold outside since winter was already peeking at the corner of the month. Moreover, the wind seemed to be howling in his ears.

"Nee, Ranma, how is it going?"

Ranma looked around to find the source of the voice. It was Akane, shouting and waving from her room. He sulked and turned his head around.

" _This is all her fault._ "

"Here, Ranma, I think you could use some help."

Ranma turned around. There was nobody behind the window. There was nothing he could do at that time so he waited for Akane to show up again.

It was quite a long wait until Akane popped her head from the window again. "Sorry for the long wait! Catch this!"

The "parcel" Akane threw landed safely in Ranma's hands. It was pretty heavy, but for a martial artist like Ranma, that was nothing. It was a blanket with something hard wrapped inside. He looked up to Akane questioningly.

"Just see for yourself," said Akane before closing her window. Her voice could hardly be heard but Ranma knew what she said through her mouth gesture.

Without waiting any longer, Ranma untied the bundle to find his books and pencils inside. "This… isn't going to do me any good…" He unloaded the books with a hope of finding something interesting. There was a note.

 _Hey, Ranma,_

 _I see that you had nothing to do and I thought you might want to do your homework. You missed quite a lot at school so I've taken the notes for you. If you happen to have any problems, just check your notebook. Oh, use the small piece of cloth to warm Shiro, okay? I slipped it in your math book. Anyway, you're doing great and I want you to know that. Fight and good luck!_

 _P.S. Warm yourself with the blanket_

Ranma folded the note and put it in his trousers pocket. "Well… I didn't expect that," muttered him with a little hint of guilt. He took a piece of cloth out of his math book and slowly put it on Shiro. The wind blew wilder, making him shiver. He looked at his books and sighed heavily.

Left with no other choice, Ranma sat with his leg crossed on the grassy land, his body wrapped in a warm blanket. He was lucky it didn't rain the day before or his trousers would be wet by then. It wasn't more than three minutes when Ranma let out a depressing sigh of frustration.

"What are the schools nowadays trying to do?! Have us students stuck in the chairs trying to solve something by the rule of someone dead decades ago?" The wind stopped blowing for a second, as if giving Ranma some personal space before howling again. "Ugh, I'm completely clueless," admitted him after flipping the same pages over and over again.

Ranma glanced at the cat beside him, making sure everything was still under control. The kitten was still sleeping. Seeing that his threat was inactive, Ranma continued flipping pages of his book with the wind still blowing around. The next thing he saw was a panda sliding the terrace door open.

" _Oh. Someone I don't know._ "

Ranma was pissed off for no reason. "That's it." He took a bucket of water out of nowhere and splashed the water far to the west, away from his target.

" _You miss-_ "

But in no more than two seconds, the wind blew the flying water straight to the panda.

" _That's it, I'm out._ "

And the door slid close with an unpleasant thud.

"Really, what was his problem?!" With that, Ranma continued staring at his book. He hadn't done anything yet. Suddenly, he clasped his hands. "Oh yes, I just remember! The note, I think Akane mentioned something about taking me notes of the lesson." The pages of a green notebook flipped quickly.

"Everything's readable," muttered Ranma in amazement. He turned the page behind to compare his barely-recognizable-hand-writing. That wasn't his fault since he had never really experienced proper education. All he did was train and train from one place to another with his father. It's a miracle (I personally take that as a mistake) the Furinkan High School let him in the same class as Akane.

Ranma laid his eyes on a page.

 _Watch out for this part!_

He turned to another page. His eyes caught another small note written in purple ink.

 _Make sure you pay attention to this_

And another one. It's in dark green.

 _Hang in there!_

" _Akane sure put a lot of effort into this,_ " thought Ranma, flipping the pages of his notebook one after another. Everything was in perfect order. He couldn't believe that tomboy did all those taking notes for him. The flipping continued for at least ten minutes until what was left were blank papers.

Ranma closed his book and sighed. "It's hopeless; it's just not my thing." The autumn wind gave a hard blow and the notebook rustled open. There wasn't much to see for it stopped at the blank, unfilled section. With his lazy eyes, Ranma stared at it.

"Fine, it's better than nothing."

* * *

The terrace door slid open. Kasumi's ears caught the sound of it closing again. She turned her head from her knitting.

"Ah, Ranma, would you like a cup of tea?" asked her as she put aside her unfinished knitted-scarf.

"Oh, that'd be nice. Thanks, Kasumi," said Ranma, carrying a pile of books as he tried to dodge Shiro who's been running between his legs since the moment she woke up. "You'd better stay still unless you wanna be trampled on," he warned the cat. "I'll be back, Kasumi."

Planks of the stairs creaked as Ranma made his way up.

"I TOLD YA TO STAY STI-"

 _Thud._ The books fell straight to the floor and lied there. They didn't get the cat but those books sure gave her a fright.

"See?! Look what you've done!" scolded Ranma. He walked to get the furthest book and realized it was right in front of Akane's bedroom. He stood up and knocked the door. There was no answer.

Ranma knocked again. "Oi, Akane, you there?"

Again, no one answered.

With much hesitation, Ranma turned the door knob and pushed the door softly. There she is. Akane was sitting on her desk with a pencil in her hand, tapping on the table rapidly. She wasn't asleep.

"I guess I'll just leave this on the floor," Ranma said to himself. He left the room, leaving a piece of folded paper behind.

* * *

A pair of arm stretched high in the air. "Okay! I'm done! Finally!" exclaimed Akane. She unplugged her earphone and put it away along with her books. She was about to walked out her room when she noticed something lying flat on the floor. "What's that? My paper?"

Akane picked the paper up and unfolded it.

 _Akane,_

 _Thanks for taking me notes back then. I didn't finish my homework, but I tried my best. There are some things that I don't understand and I wonder if you could teach me, sometime, maybe?_

 _Ranma_

Akane's lip made a smile, she was glad Ranma appreciated her. She wouldn't wonder if Ranma surprised her teacher.

Still with satisfaction in herself, Akane folded the letter back and kept it in her drawer.

* * *

Author's note: Greetings, fellow readers! Don't mind the title, please, I insist. I could use some reviews, you know, I'm kinda upset (no offense here, don't get me wrong, I really appreciate you readers ^_^) that nobody really tells me what to do or fix. People in my country don't really appreciate literature things so I guess I'll leave it to you guys. Anyway, I'm leaving for a family reunion tomorrow and I have no idea whether I'll be posting new chapters meanwhile. That's it, thanks for reading!


	8. Chapter 8: Soaked

Chapter 8: Soaked

Author's note: Greetings, fellow readers! Nice to-

*gets slapped*

Ahem, s-see here, I've returned, please accept my apologies ^ _ ^ There was this unexpected circumstance where I couldn't access my laptop and I kind of lost my file. Sure, I planned to ditch this fic but here I am again. Guess I just can't even quit right. Anywaaayy, here's another chapter for you! Now don't expect me to post chapters every once a week but I'll still try k?

And thanks for any review and PM that you guys sent me. I'm working on the next chapters, so ideas and critiques are helping.

P.S.: Merry (very late) Christmas and happy New Year, happy (late) valentine and white day!

(Another note: Please don't kill me)

* * *

"I told you I'm skipping it today!"

"No, you're not! It's getting late, Ranma! Hurry up!"

"Akane! I'm not gonna do it! I'd rather be a girl tha-"

 _Splash!_

"Sorry, Ranma, just for this time."

"SERIOUSLY, WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!"

"Let's just get things done."

Ranma was dripping with water all over her body. He just turned into a she.

"Hold still, I'm trying to undress you," said Akane firmly. She took off Ranma's wet training shirt. The trousers were quite difficult to take off because the cat was kind of in the way. Shiro had to go all the way from the leg hole to the top.

Ranma put her arms crossed, covering her chest. "You can't just do that to me!" complained her. "I have-"

Akane didn't say much. She instantly pushed Ranma into the bathroom, picked Shiro up and put her on a small chair. "Enjoy your bath!" said Akane, giving Ranma a final push into the warm-watered tub before exiting the scene and closing the door behind. A sigh escaped her mouth.

* * *

A head popped above the surface of the water, the mouth spitting some water out and desperately gaping for air to breathe. "I'm really going to make sure that she pays for this," Ranma whispered between his coughs. After three or four more coughs, the pigtailed boy sat his knees up at the edge of the tub. The only sounds that accompanied him were ticking the clock and beads of water that rolled down his raven hair back into the tub, creating ripples.

"Don't you even think of placing your paw this tub." Ranma eyed the little cat observantly.

It seemed like Shiro had no intention of going near the water, at all. She once spilled her drink all over herself and decided that she hated to be wet. After all, a cat's fur isn't waterproof so being wet would be cold and uncomfortable. However, the water in the tub was different, that's what the kitten thought. The water was emitting steam and cats like to be near warm things such as fireplace and heater.

"Hey, what are you trying do." It wasn't a question, rather, it sounded more like a threat.

There was a pair of paw on the edge of the tub. Before Ranma could let out another warning, the kitten had climbed and was then on his left.

Ranma splashed some water which landed in front of the cat's paws. "PLEASE GO AWAY, PLEASE!" The only thing he could do at the moment was pray for the cat to back off as soon as possible as he continued the splashing.

It actually worked. After all the attempts and persistency, the white kitten walked away to the other end of the tub. Unfortunately, as soon as she went halfway there, the ribbon prevented her from going any further. And so, because she didn't want to get back to the wet edge, she just sat there, on the middle edge of the tub.

Ranma hugged his knees and lowered his head, letting his mouth kiss the surface of the water. "Gruph," said him, which actually means "great", in a sarcastic way. Ripples on the water faded, allowing it to turn still once more.

Now that the colorless liquid was calm, Shiro could see a reflection of herself staring back at her. Reflexively, she swung her right paw at her "other self". Guess what. Something held her paw back. Apparently it was no other than the red ribbon that had been tied to her (and Ranma) for at least eight hours long.

And a splash was heard. Followed by a hysterical scream.

* * *

"You're one lucky cat," said Ranma boldly. He hung his towel and put on his long-sleeved red Chinese shirt. After buttoning his shirt, he squatted in front of a wooden bucket. "What were you trying to prove back then, huh?"

The cat in the bucket crouched for warmth. She hated water. She hated being wet. She hated the damp bucket. She hated the feeling when she was struggling and drowning in the water.

"Alright, let's get you dried or you'll catch a cold," began Ranma, holding four ends of a white towel with his left hand. He lifted the bundle out of the bucket and carefully placed it on a small chair beside the tub. "Now… How do I dry this thing?"

A little sneeze was heard and Ranma couldn't help but shriek. "ALRIGHT, I'LL DRY YOU, STOP THAT." At that point, he made up his mind to help the cat, just that once. It was already horrible to be stuck with that creature and he didn't need the cat to catch a cold to worsen the situation. Who knows he might be the first human to ever suffer from cat flu.

And Ranma didn't want that. Neither did he want to dry a cat. But he wasn't in the place to choose, right?

* * *

"Look at you. At this rate you'll grow up fearing water. You're hopeless, pathetic, and-"

"Just like me."

* * *

Silently, the bathroom door creaked as it slid close, almost unheard by any soul.

Ranma crept out with the tip of his feet, avoiding two paws which were after him. "Shush! Stop whatever you're doing!"

"What took you so long?"

For a second he swore that his heart almost pumped the last beat. Ranma turned his head to see Akane climbing the stairs. She walked closer and Ranma involuntarily took three small steps backwards really carefully. Shiro meowed indifferently, greeting Akane.

Gently, Akane bowed and touched Shiro's head which rubbed against Akane's palm. "Why is Shiro wet?" asked her, although it sounded more like rhetorical question, Ranma was sure he was supposed to answer it. The sudden change in Akane's tone made him feel threatened.

Ranma lifted and turned his head away, avoiding eye contact. He changed his gaze several times; to the wall, then to the ceiling, where he could catch a blinding glimpse of the light. As he talked, he rubbed his nose with his index finger. "Ah, well, Shiro didn't fall int- I mean no, she did, but- I me-"

Akane let out a laugh and cleared her throat after realizing that she was a bit loud. "I was just kidding," she smiled.

"A-Aha-ha… I see… T-That's nice to hear…" replied Ranma, relieved knowing that things didn't turn out the way he imagined (or the way it should've). His left foot moved left and right adjusting the pace of Shiro aiming for it.

"You must have bathed her, right? She smells really nice you know."

Shiro groomed herself and sneezed. She didn't like the strong scent of mint all over her body. But she didn't like how her fur "tasted" any better than the smell. Acrid.

Ranma felt chill crept upon his back. There's no way he'd tell Akane that he accidently spilled the entire shampoo out of the bottle. He made up his mind to buy a replacement for the shampoo as soon as he could get rid of the cat. In his head, he prayed that Akane wouldn't find this out until he did so.

"I guess- more or less yes. To make things simpler, you can say that."

Akane stood up and chuckled, looking bright and all. "That's great! I still can't believe that you two are getting along," told her, letting her feet bring her pass Ranma. "It's late now, I'm off to bed now. Anyway, I'm entrusting Shiro's bath schedule to you."

Ranma turned his head and prepared to blurt out every possible argument that he could think of. "I believe there's a huge misunder-"

"You get some rest too, Ranma- huh, what was that again?"

Akane stepped out her room and looked at Ranma. "I'm sorry, did I cut you?"

At once, Ranma clasped his lips pressing on one another.

" _Dammit._ "

Akane's got his weak spot. Ranma looked away, laying his sight on Shiro. The kitten was seen lying on the floor, rubbing her white fur against it. He felt his fists tighten.

"It's nothing," he said, holding back. "Really."

"Alright then… Now I'm really heading straight to bed okay," told Akane, ready to close the door. "Oh! Did I mention that I left some milk downstairs?" You can find it in the dining room."

"REALLY?! THAN-"

"It's not meant for you," cut Akane. The walls shook as she shut the door. "Make sure you leave the bowl in the sink after she finishes it!" yelled her before switching the light off. "Goodnight!"

* * *

"That was the uncutest thing a girl could ever do," muttered Ranma aloud. The day was already dreadful for him, couldn't Akane at least help by not making herself sound rude? He went down the stairs with Shiro leading the way with a distance of at least 30 centimeters ahead. "Ugh, I really wish I had argued about dealing with this little runt." He looked at the kitten with feigned disgust and annoyance. Not-so-deep inside, he's trying to convince himself that he loathe the creature.

It's strange to have the feeling of fondness towards something you're phobic with.

The dining room was chilly. Ranma felt his bare feet freezing; he couldn't train if he's still tied to a cat (this was the reason he couldn't get himself warm unlike the usual icy days). With a huff, the pigtailed boy crashed on the floor cross-legged.

"There, reach for the milk. It's yours."

Of course, like every other cats, Shiro ran towards the milk-filled bowl with the help of her fine nose. She needn't anyone to tell her this.

With his chin resting on the edge of the table, Ranma averted his sight towards the white creature beside him which didn't last long. Still in his same unchanging position, he stuck both of his freezing legs under the table, trying desperately to warm them. The heater was unexpectedly still on. Just as he did so, Ranma spotted a folded piece of paper, lying flat before his very nose. Out of sheer curiosity, and perhaps boredom, he half stretched his right hand to reach for it.

 _Don't forget to turn the heater off once you've finished the milk. Thanks!_

 _Akane_

Ranma's forehead frowned after reading the message. "Akane must have damaged her brain somewhere, but anyway, she's asking you to inactivate the heater as soon as you finish drinking," he told Shiro, sounding apathetic, as he waved the note.

The kitten didn't budge nor bother to pay Ranma the slightest of her attention. That was all Ranma needed to feel stupid and insulted. Very.

Ranma ignored what just happened and laid his eyes back on the dining table. It wasn't difficult for his eyes to find a blue thing standing on the table. Having nothing much to do, he pulled of the piece of blue cloth which seemed to be covering a box underneath.

His guess was quite right. It was a bamboo box, its height almost twice the width.

" _Strange,_ " though Ranma as he gave the box a questioning look.

Interested, the boy tilted his head. His hands lifted the box carefully, slowly revealing a grey mug. A wisp of vapor rose up and vanished into thin air. And before he could realize it, his nose caught a hint of sweet smell coming from the mug. Without hesitation, he dragged the mug closer to him.

"It's chocolate…" Ranma murmured boldly the second he peeped into the porcelain container he's holding. It wasn't long before he noticed a small yellow sticky note stuck to its bottom.

" _Another note?_ "

Doubtfully, Ranma took the note. His aggravation melted away and guilt came replacing it. He knew why.

 _You've been doing a lot better than what I expected you to. Sorry for all the trouble._

 _Akane_

Ranma tucked the note into the pocket on his trousers, speechless. The air was getting colder so he put his palms around the mug for warmth. He stared blankly at the still surface of the liquid inside which showed the reflection of his eyes, but his mind was floating somewhere else.

"Akane's actually cute huh…"

Ranma took a sip from the hot chocolate. For a few seconds, he seemed to have not had his focus back. Then, his consciousness slapped him hard.

Upon realizing what he just said, Ranma blushed hard and his pupils dilated. A gush of chocolate drink spurted out of his mouth like a garden hose bursting out of control with water. Shiro leaped and hissed out of surprise, confusion, and unawareness. She arched her back, raising high her hair with flattened ears.

"YIIIKEEESS! WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT FOR?!"

Shiro turned her head around, searching for the source of "threat" that made her all on guard. She felt sure she heard something similar to the sound of cold water pouring down a shower. After spending quite some time looking left and right wondering about whatever could've happened she turned back to her bowl to find herself licking the milk once more, with extreme caution.

Ranma's chest where his heart was pounding within went up and down irregularly. He breathed wildly exhaling and inhaling air at an insane pace. Still with a horrified look on his face, Ranma shook the tears that unexpectedly rushed to his eyes a few moments ago. " _It was all because I was startled, not frightened,_ " thought him repeatedly, attempting to convince himself with a reason to a question that never existed.

Shades of scarlet red that crept upon Ranma's cheeks faded slower, warming and giving color to his pale face, perhaps an effect of the last two incidents. His fingers nervously gripped on his mug handle.

"Oh you've got to be kidding me! Pull yourself together, how hard is that for you?!"

Calming himself down, Ranma breathed in the chocolate smell that rose up with the steam. Anything good smelling had never failed making him feel better. Now that wasn't really bad. No more bothering and distracting thoughts.

 ** _Akane's actually cute huh…_**

Again, Ranma flushed at the sudden thought that popped up in his head. But nope, this time he had nothing to spurt.

"It's not happening!" said Ranma firmly. He grabbed his mug and poured the chocolate into his mouth like a man taking a shot of whiskey in a drinking bet. One thing he forgot was that the drink was 85° Celsius in temperature (brief exposure to liquids in this temperature can cause significant scald burns).

Guess there's no helping him, right?


	9. Chapter 9: Cats

Chapter 9: Cats

Author's Note: Greetings, fellow re-

 ***armed cops and officers seize my room with loud sirens screaming outside***

*nervous laugh* I'll explain later…

Meanwhile, lie back and enjoy!

P.S.: Title sucks. Sorry.

* * *

Two creatures walked side-by-side, bearing different perspectives towards the same world. One looked as bright as the first snowflake of winter, fluttering weightlessly down the chilly air, as the other looked like a withered lead lying on the hard and dry ground, watching the dancing crystal without being able to do anything. What a comparison.

Ranma let his hands swung to his walking rhythm, looking like boneless limbs. His head hung low with tongue dangling from his half open mouth.

Was the weather hot? Nope, in fact his bare feet were complaining about how stiff they had become. Winter was peeking at the end of the month so it was out of the question. Tired? He was totally worn out. Anything else? Yeah, he burnt his tongue. Although the burning sensation had completely faded, there was pain left to continue his suffering.

Ranma felt his feet getting heavier every time he took a step. It was as if gravity was playing a game with him. "Have mercy on me…" he groaned, sounding miserable. "What sin could I have committed to deserve such unfortunate and torture-filled life…" He felt really drowsy. This might be the blame for the extreme mood drop Ranma experienced and his babbles.

On the contrary to Ranma's current mental and physical state, Shiro was bouncing here and there, playing a new game she just came up with – tag, with her shadow (much to Ranma's relief but he's just too exhausted to pay her any damn attention). As long as she didn't lay her paw into Ranma's no-cats-allowed zone (an invisible circle of 30-centimeter radius enclosing Ranma), the tension should be normal.

So, how was Ranma going to sleep through the night without worries of the cat creeping upon him? Simple. He had planned to sleep in the futon storage, leaving Shiro on the other side which was the room Ranma and Mr. Saotome slept in normally. Ranma had a pair of earplug prepared too if Shiro by any motives decided to scratch on the storage door.

See? Everything should be under control. Well… It ought to…right?

Ranma had just arrived in front of his room's door when it suddenly slid open. A panda stood before him. Ranma tried making his way into his room but the Chinese-originated-Japanese-born animal wouldn't let him.

"Step aside, pops," Ranma scowled. The panda didn't budge.

" _No._ "

"This is ridiculous! Step aside or I'm calling the department of national zoo you hear that?!"

" _Ok._ "

"That's it." In a flash, Ranma swung his hands, launching attacks at the panda.

However, much to Ranma's surprise, his attacks seemed to have no effect on his opponent. The panda could even raise a wooden sign which read " _Tch. Weak._ " whilst parrying his assaults. After several additional desperate attempts, the sleepy pigtailed boy stepped back. He was panting hard the cold air rushed into his lungs.

Mr. Panda looked at Ranma with eyes half closed. Ranma could tell that he was being either underestimated or judged. Perhaps even both.

And the door slid close. It was kind of rude.

* * *

"Okay, Ranma. The bed is done. Just tell me if you need anything else, got it?"

"Um yeah… Sorry to bother you at this hour, Kasumi…"

Kasumi patted the blanket on the sofa. She shook her head gently. "Don't worry, it's fine. After all, things like this don't happen every day, right?"

"I guess so…"

"Alright then, I'll be going now. I'm turning the lights off."

Ranma sat on the sofa, eyeing Shiro suspiciously. He really took the cat seriously since he considered her as one of his opponents. In other people's eyes, she may look like an angelic and fragile purring little creature who'd make everyone go "aww". On the other hand, Ranma saw her as a demonic figure in disguise. Well, surely people would understand him better if they had ever had fish sausage tied to them and then tossed into a pit where starving cats dwell.

Several minutes had passed and Ranma hadn't closed his eyes. He was still sitting with blanket wrapped around him. Of course, he knew it couldn't give him protection from the cat, but at least it would help in preventing direct contact between him and you-know-what. Then, he shrieked and pressed himself against the sofa. That was the twelfth time in the past six minutes.

"CAN'T YOU REALIZE THAT IT'S IMPOSSIBLE FOR YOU TO GET UP HERE?!" Ranma hugged his legs tight. The thing wasn't even trying for sure; it just sat there and pawed the sofa softly. However, he had to admit the persistency and determination in the kitten for trying to have him notice that she was down there, which he wished would fade away. " _This is crazy. At this rate, I'd be forced to submit to my Nekoken condition._ "

Just then, a piece of thought passed Ranma's mind. Without giving it a second thought, he snatched the basket standing beside him and overturned it. Over Shiro. Entrapping her inside.

And with that, Ranma dropped his head on the sofa. He stared at the ceiling and laughed. When he put his arms over his eyes, he still laughed. He laughed himself to sleep. And he couldn't find a single reason why.

* * *

It felt warm under the basket. Shiro lay down with a hint of light coming from the neon lamp hanging on the terrace ceiling. She had had a long nice nap that afternoon which kept her all up then. Feeling a little bored, she tugged at the red ribbon tying her right paw and gnawed at it playfully. It smelled of mint and milk. Perhaps she shouldn't have wasted so much of her daytime napping.

Still feeling no better than bored, the young cat rolled to her side. And that's when her ears pricked up to a sound barely audacious to human beings. The sound was only a muffled whimper which she had no idea of. As an animal however, even a cat like Shiro had natural instincts that would tell her to play safe.

She heard it again. The mysterious sound seemed to come from Ranma's direction, and it gave her an uneasy feeling. She may be a cat, but this doesn't limit her from knowing how "uneasy" felt like; it was something as basic as being left in a damp bucket, wet and cold. It was a sign of trouble and unhappiness.

Curiosity took the lead, having a little fluffy head poke out from underneath a gap of a stiff-fibered-basket. Not much could be seen if you were limited to the height of ten centimeters, so the only choice you'd have was either go-out-and-find-something-to-climb or give no damn about whatever it was. Well, Shiro was never trapped in the basket because the cats-are-liquid rule would allow her to squeeze through the available gap, but no, she felt like passing over the chance and stay in her new comfort zone.

Classic cat thing.

Not much had been normal that whole day, but the night is even stranger, with peculiar things happening. Shiro wasn't sure what noises had Ranma been making up on the sofa. Nighttime with Ranma was oddly a mix between restlessness and tension. There was no point in enjoying your so-called-comfort-zone when situation isn't allowing you to, so little Shiro made her way out with her tail coming last. Silence fell when she was actually really out of the enclosed space and she began wondering whether she had been hearing things.

She wasn't, but was certain that her ears caught what sounded like a hiss. She curled her back a little. She didn't like the sound of it.

* * *

 _Ranma was panting hard after a long escape. The air was chilly but his legs felt a burning sensation, strangely enough. It must be the effect after all the running. The street lamps had gone out since who-knows-when and he had been lost in the dark. He had no idea why was he chased nor what had been chasing him. And no matter how, he just couldn't trace the very beginning of this event._

 _His eyes were not helping much. He could see occasionally lurking shadows with shades darker than the night itself. His ears tried to make the most of what was audible but deep growls were all they could process._

 _"_ _Enough! Show yourself! I'm a martial artist and I will not go easy on you," shouted Ranma, breaking the silence. Although he tried sounding firm, he could not restrain his right fist from trembling greatly. "Y-You better retreat before getting hurt!" At this point, he wasn't even sure he was talking to anybody. There was no reply and the night turned darker._

 _The noise of an rubbish can tumbling kept Ranma on guard, having him immediately perform his best stance. After all, he was a trained martial artist. It was undoubted that something had knocked it over while attempting to get closer, heading towards his direction. Ranma wasn't quite startled but he reflexively jumped back, only to realize that he had nowhere else to go._

 _It was a dead end._

 _A vivid but strong smell of catnip alarmed the unprepared boy. Ranma already knew where the whole thing was going._

 ** _Cling._**

 ** _Cling. Cling._**

 ** _Cling._**

 _The last ring echoed throughout the unfamiliar alley. Small yellow lights in pairs began appearing, pair by pair, surrounding Ranma. They blinked and blink. The pigtailed boy swore the eyes glowed the eeriest radiance. He would be glad if his brain would manipulate or fool itself, thinking those were just the twinkle-twinkle-little-starts. But no, even his brain knew that stars didn't hiss nor meow in hoarse voices. And stars didn't scratch the walls._

 _Everything felt like déjà vu. The air, the unusual darkness, the way the bells tinkled and jingled. Everything. Little did Ranma know that this illusion was the very cause of his restless nights, the hours of wandering obliviously in the neighborhood. Unconscious._

 _Things got even nightmarish when the eyes shut themselves, pair by pair, leaving Ranma in total blackness, but not alone. Any second then, he completely understood that they would be pouncing at him any second then. He was all but a living bait._

 _Just as the nightmare was about to repeat, a coincidental fate walked his path. The next second, Ranma found himself in a blinding light._

* * *

Shiro was no good climber, in fact, this was her first attempt, but somehow she managed to get on the sofa, or more exactly on the sleeping pigtailed boy. Two or three marks of scratching may be noticed by any of the Tendo family in the next few hours though. Come to the thought of it, this was the first time the cat could make proper contact with Ranma.

Ranma smelled of sweat and grass, well mostly swear, but Shiro decided that she had grown fond of the mixed odor. She felt like rolling to and fro against the red material Ranma was wearing. Never had she got the chance to roll on Akane like this, and even if she had had one, she certainly wouldn't want to. She had sighted Akane sleep wrestling and her instinct had done a good job deciding that it would be unpleasant to be suffocated.

Even as a creature with the so-called-nine-lives, the risk was still too great.

The cricket chirping had faded out and eventually, the foam white kitten got bored of rolling clueless. The urge of needing somebody to play with wasn't helping at all. Her tail swayed low as she stood on her four legs, on Ranma, watching him without interest. She may not be a human, but Shiro could tell that Ranma was a very messy sleeper.

The woolen blanket barely covered Ranma's half upper body and his head was nowhere resting on the pillow. He must have had shifted so much that his pillow was lying flat on his face. Seems legit. [Kinda.]

Without further thought, Shiro shoved the supposedly-head-support off Ranma's face. The cotton filled fabric fell on the floor, unharmed. The light of the neon lamp hanging from the terrace ceiling rushed to his face and this sudden contact with such intensity of light made him squint his eyes though they had been shut no more than two hours ago.

And Shiro tugged herself beside Ranma's head, leaning her face against his right cheek, trying to feel its warmth.

* * *

Ranma blinked. He did it a few more times, letting his eyes grow accustomed to the bright light. The first thing he could feel was soft green grass brushing against his cheek which strangely smelled of mint. As he got up, the sight of grass field as far as his eyes could reach calmed his poor frightened soul. Though he couldn't recall what had happened before, flashes of his nightmare stroke his head. His brain didn't seem to get the outline. He didn't want to.

Looking up, the sky was blue as ever with cotton-like clouds floating not very high above. The blueness kept Ranma staring at it blankly with his tired eyes.

"Ranma!" A voice called, and Ranma turned his head to the direction of the caller.

A big Gingko tree stood ten or fifteen meters before Ranma with a woman in a pastel colored yukata, sitting in its shade. He hadn't noticed the presence of both the tree and the person despite the short distance he was being from them. Upon seeing the woman, Ranma felt his heart jump.

He knew her. The woman was no other but Saotome Nodoka, his very own maternal mother.

" _Okasa…?_ " mumbled Ranma silently, with an uncertain pause when he said the letter "o". That time, the thought of Mrs. Saotome carrying a _katana_ that perhaps would slice his stomach anytime she found out about Ranma's bi-gender-abnormality.

"Don't play too far, Ranma," called Nodoka again.

Just as Ranma's words were about to slip out his lips, he heard an answer, not very far behind him.

" _Haiii!_ " said the voice, which sounded a lot like a three-year-old to Ranma. He coult tell because the dialect and vocalization were somewhat messy. A gush of wind blew pass him and Ranma heard the sound of grass being trampled. Something must have gone pass him but his eyes couldn't catch even a glimpse of it.

"Here, take," said the voice, now sounding closer to him. But Ranma saw nobody. It was rather bewildering. He tried to trace the direction of the voice and it seemed to come from the Gingko tree this time. Right next to Nodoka.

Nodoka turned her head and reached her hand out. " _Arara!_ What do we have here? Flowers?"

Things got more confusing. Nodoka was clearly talking to nobody. Everything became even more illogical when she suddenly grabbed a handful of flowers out of thin air. Maybe magic was in the air.

" _Arigatō_ , Ranma."

Ranma clearly heard Mrs. Saotome said that, but he was sure it wasn't directed to him. And that's when he realized he was visiting his childhood memory which he may have forgotten all about. Still, once gone through, it remained a memory, deeply buried perhaps, but never forgotten.

Ranma understood that the person he couldn't see was his three-year-old self. Sitting on the grass, he found himself watching the happy pair, well, technically only Nodoka, but he didn't really mind. Then out of the blue, a fluffy Angora cat walked right through him, literally, as if Ranma had been a ghost. Of course, he freaked out and shrieked, crawling towards the Gingko tree and hid behind it.

"What in the world is wrong with this place?!" cursed Ranma in between of his panting. He wasn't a bit exhausted from the sudden crawling, but his heart was throbbing like crazy. Like any of his habit, Ranma leaned on the tree trunk, but only to find himself falling back first onto the grass ground.

So he really was an invisible creature who couldn't make any meaningful contact with anything in that place. Ranma was all but a non-existent being there. Not bothering to get up, he stayed flat on the ground. At least until he realized he was right beside Mrs. Saotome. And the cat was on her lap.

Shrieking like a girl, Ranma jumped up high and to perch on one of the tree's big branches. But alas, he didn't seem to learn from his past mistake that he couldn't actually touch almost anything. Falling hard on the ground, he preferred to stay in that position. Rational mind and common sense rushed into his head and once again Ranma inhaled into his lungs the scent of fresh mint.

" _Nee_ , Ranma, _Neko-chan_ is here. Wanna greet her?"

"I want, where _Neko-chan_ at?"

And upon hearing these words, Ranma sat up. " _I used to be okay with some random cat around?_ " He never knew at one stage of his life he was very fond of cats.

Nodoka shook her head as she continued caressing the light ginger fur of the cat. "No, it's _Neko-san_ , Ranma. You're five years younger than her so you must call her by _–san_."

Ranma had imaginary sweat drops appearing on his forehead. "Mrs. Saotome sure is very strict about seniority, isn't she…" And for the first time in his years, Ranma heard him refer to an older cat by _–san_. Imagine what would the old panda say if he had heard about this. It sure was embarrassing and Ranma was denying the innocence and cuteness in those words.

"You sure like cats, don't you?" asked Nodoka, putting her hand down, fixing her eyes on what-Ranma-couldn't-see. Well, he could see the motion of the fur being stroked, but not the hand. It was as if wind was blowing strangely on the fluffy creature. There was spring-like breeze flowing throughout the place and it made Ranma feel drowsy.

Lying on the grass once again, Ranma had himself watch the sky from beneath the shades of the Gingko tree, before some kind of flashes interrupted. It was like his the panorama that he saw turned into black-and-white mode, along with a violent buzz, like a radio losing its signal. His ears hurt and he turned his head to see Nodoka talking merrily, he couldn't hear her, but he could tell from her expression.

The disturbing buzzing continued, each time getting faster and more frequent, leaving poor Ranma dizzy, uncomfortable, but not having anything in mind of something to do or deal with this situation. Getting up, he walked away from the tree, hoping the noise would fade away. Byt it didn't. Until then, a high pitch tone, very similar to the one made by a malfunctioning microphone, interrupted and caused Ranma to squint his eyes a little. The buzzing stopped and Ranma saw the whole place in shades of black, white, and the color in between.

The place suddenly felt quiet. Too quiet. Ranma turned his head hastily and saw nobody was there. Not anymore. Not Nodoka, no signs of anyone else. Not the Angora car either. Not a single soul but him.

"Ranma."

Someone just called his name. Not just someone, but two, in unison. He was sure one belonged to Nodoka, but couldn't really tell who the other belonged to. Accompanied by doubt, the pigtailed boy faced the source of his caller.

He was right about hearing Mrs. Saotome calling to him. In the coolest shade beneath the Gingko, Nodoka sat on the same spot with the cat on her lap. Her lips moved but Ranma couldn't perceive her voice. His eyes searched the furthest end of the grass field only to realize no other person was present then. The grass in shades of boring gray strangely looked unearthly to him.

" _I wanna get out of this strange place._ "

Another buzz along with the sound of wind gushing. A glimpse of everything in color appeared like a flash. Not only that, Ranma thought he saw Akane in her blue school uniform in the place of Nodoka. Then things turn colorless again, burying the place in total silence.

"Do you really want to escape this world?" asked the woman, sounding very formal. Ranma saw a _katana_ on her lap which he didn't notice in the first place.

"Yes," answered Ranma calmly, in him was the urge to shout out his very word. " _This world, and you especially._ "

"Alive."

At once, a gasp escaped the opening between his lips and Ranma slammed his palm to them. He didn't mean to say that out loud. He and his reckless mouth. Before he could find a way to explain himself Nodoka spoke again.

"Well then, I see. Of course you do," replied Saotome _-san_ in a perfectly normal way, much to Ranma's relief. For a second he thought she was going to make an assumption.

"Um, how about now…?" asked the boy nervously, his heart settling down after panicking over the previous accident.

"How about having a nice talk? A conversation wouldn't hurt."

"Just… make it quick."

"You're one impatient lad, aren't you? Alright."

Nodoka's left hand grabbed a tied up cloth which seemed to be wrapping an object of the size of the black "pig" he had never been fond of. Whatever was in there was moving. Ranma didn't really bother to anyway. He waited for, or more accurately expected, the brown haired woman to precede her words, but became extremely alarmed when she instead grasped the long sharp blade on resting on her lap and threw it high up.

Ranma swore he almost wet himself when the sharp piece of metal pierced the earth right beside his bare right foot. His nose caught a scent of mint which he was undoubtedly the smell of fresh cut grass. " _SHE'S REALLY TRYING TO KILL ME._ "

"Pick it up." Upon hearing these words, Ranma obediently did as he was told to. "You want to leave, don't you? Let's see whether you can cut this in half and you're free to go," challenged Nodoka calmly as she raised her arm with the cloth parcel firmly held in her fist. Whatever in it was moving, but nothing close to struggling.

Something was amiss to Ranma. It was most probably because he knew he received an order to kill. And he didn't want to. Never. But he had this curiosity pushing words from his throat. He gave in to it. "What's that?"

"Clueless? Don't mind this, it's something you want to get rid of." Seeing the boy completely in the dark, Saotome _-san_ indifferently spoke again. "Look down."

Still dense as ever, the boy took a moment to figure what the woman meant. He couldn't find a trace of the cat tied to his left leg. Only a red ribbon with a ragged end. Yes, someone finally got rid of the troublesome physical manifestation of his phobia and he couldn't believe that for the first time in his whole life, Ranma felt like retrieving what he had always wanted to be away from. "I… don't want to."

"Then I kill!"

That accent. It was too familiar to deny. His guess couldn't be more accurate. But before Ranma could think of what was happening at that moment, a purple haired Chinese girl ran past him, ready to pounce at her upmost speed, equipped with a pair of red-green-yellow patterned _chuí_ *. It had been a mere split second but the person gripping the cloth bundle was nowhere to be seen when Ranma turned around.

Landscape of the strange world had shifted into the cat temple. Hanging down the fading red _torii_ ** gate was no other than Shampoo's target. Ranma couldn't believe he was racing to snatch that thing before somebody else could get to it. He did, just before the Amazon girl and her bright colored weapon destroyed the firm temple arch.

Shortly after a smooth landing, an unexpected attack greeted him. Black roses pierced through the blue sky like darts and penetrated the stone ground with their thorny stalks. A classic Kodachi's way of interfering.

"Ranma _-sama_! I've to come to end your problem once and for all," shouted the gymnast in her teal suit, followed by one of her trademark laughs. Then, ribbons glided across the air in the direction of Ranma. They all looked like hungry vicious snakes racing to get that one prey.

Having no other choice, Ranma fled to his safety, clutching the soft bundle in his arm. He noticed the same scent of mint as the previous grassland when he did so. He didn't know exactly how long had he been running before he found himself leaning on the rusty temple bell. And suddenly a giant okonomiyaki spatula came out of nowhere, brutally smashing into the old bell. Ranma leaped away as he watched the rust-covered iron object being completely annihilated in a split second.

Casually, a brown-haired girl walked out from the puff of dust, pulling her battle spatula and fixing it on her back. "Hand it over, Ran _-chan_."

Ranma's two prior attackers arrived at the scene, enclosing him.

"Shampoo, Kodachi, Ucchan! What's wrong with all of you?!"

"No, Ranma, you wrong one."

"You despise cats, don't you? Why are you so badly trying to defend it now?"

If Ranma had to be honest, he couldn't think of a reason to give. He's not being pretentious. Somehow, he couldn't explain himself, not a bit. As he panicked in silence, a strong gush of wind blew into his face.

The terrain of temple was no longer present. Instead, the land Ranma stood on was then a piece of floating land not any bigger than the Tendo's kitchen. Both beneath and above the small island was endless sky.

"I see you had fun, didn't you?" asked Nodoka. "But you forgot something." The still tied cloth had become her possession. Stretching her arm, the lady put Ranma to the test.

"Dare you? Five… Four…"

Realization hit Ranma.

"Three…"

He leaped as fast as his feet could manage.

"Two…"

Reaching out to the parcel, his fingers barely caught it.

"One."

Embracing the warm mint-smelling bundle ever so tightly, free falling down the infinite blue, still not knowing why. Not that he needed to.

* * *

 ** _Thud._**

"Argh."

Ranma groaned when he fell off the sofa on his back. His legs were tangled in the blanket, numbness crept upon them and gave him pins and needles. He wanted to do something about it but then decided to lay on his back a little longer, his arm clutching a velvety material to his chest.

He very quickly got fond of the very fluffy stuff. Well, not exactly a stuff.

"Wait a sec."

The pigtailed boy shuddered, feeling strange in a pleasant way. He made normal contact with a cat. Yes, him. Ranma.

 ** _Click. Snap._**

The sound really similar to one of a camera snapping a picture put Ranma's relaxed mood to an end. It indicated someone was somewhere in the same room as him. He looked around to see not only one, but all Tendos and a panda gathered around the dining table not so far behind him. Awkwardness filled the atmosphere.

" _Arara_ , they are real close, aren't they?" Kasumi broke the silence. She didn't seem to be influenced by the current situation.

Akane let out a short chuckle. "Sure, they look… kind of cute? I guess…?"

"I took pictures," told Nabiki, sounding indifferent. "Anyway, I'm off to Kuno-baby's house. Bye!"

Soun put down his chopsticks on his empty bowl. "You talked in your sleep," he said, clearing his throat. Obviously, the signal coughs meant something Ranma most probably didn't want to know happened.

The giant panda nodded calmly while sipping his tea. " _Something like 'smells nice' and 'feels good'_ ," read the sign he held up. " _Also, names like 'Shampoo', 'Kodachi', and 'Ucchan'_."

" _Nee_ , Ranma, what's the meaning of that all?" asked Soun, almost manifesting himself in the form of a giant headed _oni_ with unpleasant auras surrounding.

Ranma tried to swallow a lump in his throat. He got a quick glimpse of his dream but not enough to provide necessary information regarding the "accusation" weighted on him. "T-There is c-certainly a misunderstanding here. A h-huge one. Y-you must have m-mish-heard it." He was really close to wheezing.

"Let's get to that later," said Akane, finishing her breakfast. "Ranma, you'd better get yourself a portion of helping. Starting a day with an empty stomach does you no good."

Ranma got up from the floor. The tingling sensation on his feet was still there when he walked towards the table where breakfast was served.

"Now Panda _-kun_ , how about a _shōgi_ match?" asked the head of Tendo Dojo while walking out of the room with his black-and-white friend.

"Want me to untie her?" offered Akane as she helped Kasumi collect the dirty dishes.

"Uh, I don't mind having things stay like this for a little longer though."

"Suit yourself. I'll see you in my room."

The morning sun shone its radiant rays, warming one of the last days of autumn. Then, it was only Ranma and the kitten together. Secretly, he took a gander at her and stuffed his mind with the thought of being a real man.

Little did Ranma realize, he already had.

* * *

Vocabs you might need help with:

* _chuí_ Chinese hammer consisting of a large sphere and medium-long handle

* _torii_ Traditional Japanese gate most commonly found at the entrance or within a shrine

 _katana_ Traditionally Japanese made swords

 _oni_ Japanese folklore creature variously deciphered as demons, devils, ogres, or trolls

 _arara_ Common Japanese vocal noise which roughly translates to 'oh dear'

 _shōgi_ Japanese chess or also known as the General's Game

* * *

Author's Note (Part II): I brought news!

Got a new laptop! *throws confetti, blows party horn* One that does not constantly LOSE my files nor REFUSE to connect with present network connection.

Man, time really flies! Midterm is in two days. Anyway, I heard about this apocalypse that should've happened yesterday (23 September 2017) and though it doesn't convince me at all, I decided to take a break and instead of studying, spent the whole day typing this fic while listening to Chopin's Nocturne on headphone mode and sipping tea out of a porcelain cup. Who knows what might have had happened yesterday, so just in case an unfortunate path crossed our beloved Earth's fate, assuming I didn't survive, I would one way or the other pass on while having the time of my life.

And I really, truly apologize concerning the unexpectedly long hiatus. *bows down*

Thank you to all of you fellow readers for reading! Have a(nother) nice day ^ ˅ ^


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